News Brief – Week of 20 February 2023

20.02.23 – Traffickers smuggling tobacco from Belarus busted in Poland. Europol supported the Polish Border Guard (Straż Graniczna), the Police Central Bureau of Investigation (Centralne Biuro Śledcze Policji) and the National Revenue Administration (Krajowa Administracja Skarbowa) in disrupting tobacco smugglers and seizing large amounts of cash and valuables. The criminals were initially under investigation for…

SEACOP holds National Steering Committee in Ecuador

Last week, SEACOP and high level political authorities of #Ecuador 🇪🇨 gathered in Quito for a National Steering Committee on maritime security. During meetings held at the premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Quito, representatives of local authorities, the EU Delegation in the country, the Spanish and the US Embassies discussed further cooperation…

Cooperation with regional organization CARICOM and national authorities on intelligence led-targeting

From 13 to 18 February 2023, officers from both AIRCOP Joint Airport Interdiction Task Forces (JAITFs) from the Norman Manley International Airport (Kingston, Jamaica) and the Sangster International Airport (Montego Bay, Jamaica), took part in the Intelligence-Led Targeting Training, delivered by CARICOM IMPACS and the WCC Group (developer of advanced search and match technology), in…

Second COLIBRI Working Group on General Aviation

The COLIBRI Working Group on General Aviation was established to serve as an information sharing event to facilitate interaction among practitioners, discuss the GA threat and identify common areas of interest. The meetings are also meant to facilitate exchange of best practices between specialists on GA and increase joint operational work. After a successful inauguration…

Webinar – Presentation of the Maritime threat assessment of illicit flows across the Atlantic Report

On 6 February 2023, GIFP actions MASIF and SEACOP presented the findings of the joint report “Maritime threat assessment of illicit flows across the Atlantic” online. The report provides insight into illicit flows other than drugs to focus on trafficking of gold, timber waste and E-waste. Researchers from both MASIF and SEACOP painted a vivid…

SEACOP partakes in OAS seminar in Guatemala, launches maritime security strategy

SEACOP is participating in an international workshop organised by the Organisation of American States – OAS-CITCE in Guatemala this week. A total of 17 local institutions, high-level authorities, heads of the main ports of the region and international organisations such as the International Maritime Organisation -IMO-, the Ibero-American Institute of Maritime Law and the Private…